As a favour for Professor Hubert Smithson-Hunt, Martin and Anna Price attempt to discover whether the pristine Roman Denarii purchased by their old friend are authentic. During the course of what they believe will be no more than a short routine task, they encounter two ruthless killings in Truro which the police are content to regard as the result of a bungled burglary. Their enquiries lead them to conclude that there could be a link to the disappearance in 1973 of a young couple of newlyweds from Yorkshire and possibly a fatal car accident in Spain that same year.

Could these events have any connection with the punitive mission led by Centurion Marcus Rustius Dexter during the reign of Vespasion in the first century?

In the words of Martin Price, 'Anything is possible'.